The three-mile walk at Longbranch Park in Geddes raised $123,321, said Jared Paventi, director of communications for the association. The money from the walk – which beats last year’s amount by more than $1,200 – will pay for Alzheimer’s care and research.

Approximately 45,000 people in Central New York – including 14 counties – have Alzheimer’s disease, said Catherine James, CEO of the Central New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

“And if you move that circle of influence further, it’s hard to find someone who isn’t affected by the disease,” James said.

David Lysack, of Liverpool, has watched his father-in-law struggle with Alzheimer’s disease for six years.

“He’s one of the smartest men I know … to see him struggle to remember things like how to use a lawn mower is hard,” said Lysack. “If you haven’t witnessed that, you don’t know just how horrible it is.”

Lysack said the walk offered some hope. He and his coworkers from Cspeed of Liverpool raised $2,255 for the walk. “You see that you are not alone in this thing,” he said.

Others like Dorothy Reilly, 82, took a flight from Queens to support the event.

“I can’t walk,” said a grinning Reilly, pointing toward her cane. “But I’ve been coming up for this for about five years now. I do it for my brother and my family.”

This year’s walk drew the most people to ever attend an Alzheimer’s Association event in the Syracuse area.

The Alzheimer’s Association will accept donations for the walk through Nov. 1. Donations can be made at mwsyr.kintera.org.

Peter Chen / The Post-StandardBecky Knapp (left), of Syracuse and her friend, Anne Mills, of Rochester, were among those taking part in today's Memory Walk. Knapp's grandmother and Mills' mother suffer from the disease.